Russia launched a missile attack on Kiev and other cities in Ukraine, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the offensive, which comes shortly after Russia blamed Ukraine for the explosion of the truck on the Crimean bridgehe aims to wipe his country “off the face of the earth”.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kiev andeight dead and 24 wounded. It is also reported one died in Zaporozhye.
Missile attacks also took place in Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in western Ukraine and Dnipro in central Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Later Monday, information emerged about other cities under attack, some without electricity. The information on the number of victims is contradictory.
Putin threatened “harsh” responses.
Russian President Vladimir Putin subsequently convened a Security Council meeting and announced that the attacks were in response to “terrorist operations” on Russian soil.
“In the event that attempts to carry out terrorist operations on our territory continue, the responses from the Russian side will be firm and their scope will correspond to the level of threat against the Russian Federation”. Putin said.
The Russian president said Moscow made a commitment today long-range missile attacks on Ukrainian energy, military and communications infrastructure in response to the weekend attack on the vital bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea.
Ukrainian officials celebrated after the blast, but Kiev did not claim responsibility, Reuters notes.
Rockets to the playing fields
Since the start of the war, Kiev has been under Russian missile fire several times.
Today’s, the first in months, is the most intense so far, DPA pointed out.
Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko has called on his fellow citizens on Telegram to seek refuge due to Russian rocket firing into the city center, Ukrinform reported.
Video footage of the Ukrainian capital showed some of the rockets falling near the children’s playgrounds. In the initial strikes in the Shevchenko district, the buildings of two museums and the Philharmonic Hall were hit, the Ukrainian Minister of Culture announced.
One of the rockets also hit Kiev’s famous “Klitschko” bridge, which opened in 2019. It is popular with sports fans in the Ukrainian capital and attracts many tourists.
What is happening
Russia hit the Lviv region with missiles, hitting the energy infrastructure infrastructure, said the head of the regional administration, Maxim Kozitsky.
Four people were killed and two injured during Russian night bombings, the city administration of Slavyansk reported.
There are also reports of heavy fighting in the Bakhmut area. The city is located on a main road connecting the cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk in the Donbass industrial region, which Moscow has not yet fully captured.
Taking control of Bakhmut allows for wider actions, the Kharkiv – Rostov and Donetsk – Kyiv highways cross it.
The administration of the Dnipropetrovsk region also reported rocket and artillery fire without casualties, but which caused damage to the electricity supply.
The Russian invaders they attacked the Odesa region with rockets and kamikaze drones, Ukrinform reported, citing the head of the Odessa military administration Maxim Marchenko.
“The air defense forces shot down three missiles and five kamikaze drones in the Odesa region”Marchenko added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he said there were injured and killed in the explosions that shook cities across Ukraine and accused Russia of trying to wipe his country “off the face of the earth”.
“They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the Earth … to destroy our people sleeping at home in the (city of) Zaporozhye. To kill the people who go to work in Dnieper and Kiev,” Zelensky wrote in his post in the Telegram app. “The air raid sirens don’t stop all over Ukraine. There are rocket attacks. Unfortunately there are people killed and injured.” He added.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described Putin as a terrorist and Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak said the cowardly attacks on children’s playgrounds showed that “the Russian question must be resolved by force”.
New strikes against Zaporozhye
Among the accusations of terrorism against the Ukrainian authorities, they have announced new ones Russian strikes against residential buildings in the city of Zaporozhye.
Last night the Ukrainian governor of the Zaporozhye region, which Russia already considers part of its state territory, announced new attacks on the main city, which is under Ukrainian control.
Oleksandr Starukh wrote in “Telegram” that a multi-storey residential building was hit again and there were injuries.
Local authorities subsequently reported one death.
The external power supply of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was restored
Across the Dnieper River, external power has been restored to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control.
This has been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which maintains a team at the plant. Power was cut off again due to strikes in the plant area, which could interfere with the operation of its emergency systems.
The head of the agency, Rafael Grossi, described the latest news as a “temporary relief in an unsustainable situation”.
